Lighting equipment

This is a discussion on Lighting equipment within the Beginner Planted Aquarium forums, part of the Beginner Freshwater Aquarium category; -->
Ok so I got a used 29 gallon Aqueon fish tank that is 30 inches long (24&quot; bulbs) and it came with a full ...

Ok so I got a used 29 gallon Aqueon fish tank that is 30 inches long (24" bulbs) and it came with a full hood (plastic) and a single bar light that sits in the hood itself (with a piece of plexiglass that keeps the light dry). I am wondering if this HO would fit into it? The measurements look hopeful. I was mainly wondering if any of you upgraded your single NO t8's to dual HO t5's ..

I am not a good electrician and I am trying to do this as cheaply as possible so this is the only fixture I can find for this kind of price! I am not really looking to modify the light bar that I have. I can always use it as a shop light :)

I can't answer your question, but just wanted to make sure you know that if you go with that fixture, or similar (dual T5HO) you will be a high light tank and need to do CO2 injection and increased fertalization.

A single T8 can do low light perfectly fine, a dual T8 can easily do moderate but to fit you would need to buy a glass lid to replace the hood. A dual T5HO is the same as three T8 bulbs.

You may already know all that, but wanted to let you know just in case so you don't end up with an algae farm.

I agree with Geo,
If you choose to use the dual HO T5's you might suspend them over the tank a few inches or use window screen bewteen the bulbs and the glass top so that plant's don't have too much light for low CO2 available without injection of same.
I purchased 30 inch dual T8 fixture and glass versa top for my 29 gal planted tank.
the tank is 30 inches long but bulb's are only 24 inches so corner's are not as lit as other area's of the tank.
I planted shade loving anubia's on wood for the corner's of the tank and plant's are doing well with eight hour's of light and weekly fertz,water change.

Actually I didn't know. I just looked at it as 48 watts for a 29 gallon. The fixture I have now is only 17 watt t8. Is that enough to grow crypt wentii green and Anubis and wisteria? I don't want my plants to die in the new setupPosted via Mobile Device

Actually I didn't know. I just looked at it as 48 watts for a 29 gallon. The fixture I have now is only 17 watt t8. Is that enough to grow crypt wentii green and Anubis and wisteria? I don't want my plants to die in the new setupPosted via Mobile Device

Yes,the plant's you mention will grow with the single T8 bulb assuming it is 5000 to 8000 K full spectrum bulb.
Should say on bulb somewhere near the end's.
Can find bulb's at Lowes,or hardware store cheaper than purchasing from aquarium store,fish store.
Growth is slow in NON CO2 enhanced tank's and growth is often measured in week's,month's.

I'm okay with slow growth of on the plants as long as they don't die. I upgraded my 10 gallon to a strip light and put a ge plant bulb in it and it kept my stuff alive and I started dosing flourish 1x a week and everything is doing better. I don't think I will get that bulb again. I would like to get a ultra sun bulb for the new tank if it will be enough.Posted via Mobile Device

To confirm, you are staying with the present fixture, which is a single T8 tube and the tube itself is 24 inches. The 29g tank is 30 inches length, which is the "standard" 29g.

The Anubias and crypts will be fine provided you get a good tube. The Wisteria is iffy, but as you already have it, just let it go and see. If it manages, fine; if not, we can look at other plants that will, or another fixture if you prefer that option.

To the tube. The ZooMed UltraSun is fine, as is the Hagen Life-Glo. I have had the latter over my 29g and this is in the low to moderate range. But you will have to use one of these more expensive tubes. The cheaper "daylight" in this size are not sufficient except for low light. I now have one of these, a GE Daylight, and after a few weeks it is obvious the plants are barely surviving. I'm going to leave it as I want to see what transpires down the road. I can always replace these plants if they die from excess in my other tanks.

Yes you guys cleared that all up for me. My wisteria is growing in my 10 gallon with a 3100k ge "aquarium and plant" bulb and I won't buy it again. My crypts went crazy over the addition of flourish and I just wanted confirmation that a 17 watt t8 is enough so u don't kill 6 month old plants.

On that 10 gallon I just started getting brown algae and my snail won't eat it off the crypts .. do you think a new bulb might help?

I appreciate your input immensely.

Do you guys know of any daylight 6500 bulbs that aren't the bright blue .. it is a little rough on my eyes although I would deal with it if I had toPosted via Mobile Device

Yes you guys cleared that all up for me. My wisteria is growing in my 10 gallon with a 3100k ge "aquarium and plant" bulb and I won't buy it again. My crypts went crazy over the addition of flourish and I just wanted confirmation that a 17 watt t8 is enough so u don't kill 6 month old plants.

On that 10 gallon I just started getting brown algae and my snail won't eat it off the crypts .. do you think a new bulb might help?

I appreciate your input immensely.

Do you guys know of any daylight 6500 bulbs that aren't the bright blue .. it is a little rough on my eyes although I would deal with it if I had toPosted via Mobile Device

The brown could be diatoms, but I am inclined to think probably not, as snails will eat this. It is more likely a type of brush algae. It is due to high light, I see it on plants closest to the light sometimes, in a couple tanks. A photo if you can post one would help confirm this. But assuming it is, the light may be causing it. This is the 10g, so what type of light do you have? A fluorescent tube, or screw-in bulbs (how many)?

On the colour hue, you can't get around this. The Kelvin (like 5000K, 6500K etc) is the colour temperature of light, how we perceive the colour hue. It so happens that plants respond best to light between 5000K and 7000K, with 6500K being the best, all else considered. When there are two tubes over a larger tank, one can mix tubes a bit to warm the colour, but with single tubes this isn't an option. But you could go a bit lower, using a tube around 5000K. I wouldn't expect this to be detrimental.

In the 10 gallon I am using the g e 3100k aquarium plant 18 inch bulb. I noticed it isn't as bright as it used to be. The algae turns to dust and is very easy to scrape off. My snails do eat it but they are too big for the crypts and they fall off. Its also in the glass in oatches.

I will try the 6500 bulb.. it might not be as bad in a larger tank. It looks like crap in a 5 gallon with orange sand lolPosted via Mobile Device